M.U.S.H.A.Review

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One of the most highly regarded and rarest-to-own classic shooters of all time arrives on the Wii's Virtual Console.

By Lucas M. Thomas

The review of this product is based on a re-released version of the game. Because of this change of medium and the passage of time, it is possible that there are slight factual differences between the original retail product and the version reviewed. The following review should be used as a reference for how well the game stood up over time rather than an evaluation of how it would have scored based on its original release date.

The Virtual Console's shift to quality over quantity continues, as while the retro gaming releases to Nintendo's Wii Shop have dwindled to a rate of one per week, the excellence of each individual title is hard to deny. M.U.S.H.A. is the latest classic game to arrive by itself for the VC service -- and it, like Castlevania III, StarTropics II and Phantasy Star IV from recent Wii-kly Updates, is a title more than capable of standing on its own. It was recently named as one of the Top 10 Classic Shooters of All Time by our Retro editor, Levi Buchanan, after all.

"Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor" is what the anagram stands for, though M.U.S.H.A. only became an anagram in America -- in Japan this game was called Musha Aleste: Full Metal Fighter Ellinor, and it served as a spin-off of the popular Aleste series of forced-scrolling shooters. M.U.S.H.A. maintains many of the conventions of the earlier Aleste shooters, but none of those titles have come to the American Virtual Console before. Instead, the closest parallel you'll find already available for download here is the Turbo-Grafx hit, Blazing Lazers.

You take command not of a flying spaceship in M.U.S.H.A., but rather a large, flight-enabled mobile suit -- like something out of the Gundam series. The difference is mostly cosmetic, and plays more of a role in the game's anime-style cutscenes that in gameplay. But it's an element that does help set M.U.S.H.A. apart -- and it's only the beginning. Your enemies aren't aliens, but rather stylized robotic ninjas and giant Japanese castles on tank treads. Your primary weapon isn't a laser gun, but rather an endless supply of super-charged electric shuriken.

M.U.S.H.A. gets the action started with anime cutscenes before launching into the overhead shooting action.

Again, these are largely cosmetic differences -- but any difference is notable for a shooter on the Virtual Console, as the genre's already packed full of winning entries that could campaign for your cash just as easily.

Getting into the gameplay, you'll find that M.U.S.H.A. is strictly a vertical scroller, like Xevious, Zanac or the Star Soldier games. Its power-up system is also somewhat standard, in that you can increase the firepower of your primary weapon by collecting items dropped by defeated enemies, and you can also equip your flying armor suit with one of three different secondary weapons. These include lightning-based piercing lasers, fire-based ground explosives and water-based rotating shields, each of which can also be upgraded if you continue to collect multiples of the same floating icons.

A slightly non-standard extra element is M.U.S.H.A.'s drone system. They're a little bit similar to the options in the Gradius series, in that they're small, accompanying partner ships that offer you yet more increased firepower. But they're also more versatile in this game, as the quick press of a button alters their focus and attack strategy. You can command the drones to circle around your flying armor, or take up fixed positions firing forward, to the side, or behind. Or you can unleash them into a free-range mode, in which they'll heat-seek toward nearby enemies and relentlessly pelt them with pellets until they've been destroyed. That last one is particularly satisfying, because it also serves as a way to pinpoint weak spots on large boss characters' bodies -- the little drones will always fly straight to the most vulnerable spot and attack away.

M.U.S.H.A. is actually one of the earliest Genesis games released in the first wave of the 16-bit era, as it originally debuted in 1990 -- now nearly 20 full years ago. It's especially impressive, then, that it looks so good -- this is a title you probably would have pegged for later in the Genesis life cycle, as it takes excellent advantage of the system's visual resources and looks great. The backgrounds scroll rapidly, the enemies are often huge and imposing, and there's always a ton of bullets, lasers and glowing giant robot ninja stars filling the screen. There are even some subtle extra visual effects, like when your armored suit strays too close to a wall and it begins to chip away bits and pieces of your Uniframe Super Hybrid exoskeleton.

The visuals can ultimately be a killer for a player who gets too caught up in them, though, as the game can also be brutally difficult. It never feels cheap or broken, but M.U.S.H.A. is downright tough -- even with the adjustable Options menu difficulty selector set to Easy, you're still going to be in for quite a fight. One hit won't kill you, thankfully enough, as the first enemy ordnance to breach your defenses will simply strip away any extra weapons you've managed to pick up -- but if you get tagged again in un-powered form, it's lights out. You'll respawn right where you died with no break in the action, too, and no getting sent back to an earlier checkpoint. So be ready for an especially intense battle if you happen to be destroyed in the middle of a boss battle.

The Verdict

It's easy to see why M.U.S.H.A. is still so highly regarded after almost two decades, as its visuals, gameplay and overall style must have felt well ahead of their time for players who got the chance to experience it first in 1990. Wii owners today, particularly shooter fans, would do well to give it a look here in 2009 for its 800 Wii Point asking price -- a price that's especially reasonable, as in addition to all the accolades listed above, M.U.S.H.A. is an incredibly rare and expensive game to try to track down and own in its original Genesis cartridge form. Virtual Console fans may continue to bemoan the lessened amount of new classic game releases each Monday on the download service, but if the all-by-themselves games selected continue to be as compelling as M.U.S.H.A., Nintendo can just keep them coming one at a time.

8PresentationThough American gamers miss out on much of M.U.S.H.A.'s appeal as an Aleste series spin-off, the anime-style storyline, cutscenes and more help it stand on its own.

8.5GraphicsImpressive. M.U.S.H.A. is one of the earliest Genesis titles, but doesn't look like it at all -- it took full advantage of the hardware's visual capabilities years before many of its contemporaries.

8.5SoundEqually as impressive as the visuals, M.U.S.H.A.'s soundtrack is fast-paced, energetic and perfectly matched to the frantic gameplay.

8.5GameplayStill regarded as one of the best classic shooters, M.U.S.H.A. is a tough but rewarding vertical scroller that will challenge you without frustrating you.

7.5Lasting AppealGood replayability, thanks to multiple different difficult settings and the fact that you could try different weapon and drone settings on subsequent playthroughs.